09/30/2011

Michaelmas is one of my very favorite festivas in the Waldorf tradition!

I love the whole idea that the changing seasons relates to our spiritual work. The Autumn brings the season for the awakening of our souls. As the weather gets colder, the light recedes, and we look toward strengthening our own inner reserves, our own inner strength

With shining hearts we prepare for the taming of our inner "dragons"

I have always been so connected to the changing seasons... How am I going to do now that I am in the land of endless summer? We shall see.

But the first step was Michaelmas. WSRF has many lovely traditions.... The sharing of bread and soup with the reinactment of St George taming the dragon. Good stuff... At HWS the 2nd grade spent the week making wood swords and they performed their class play at the Michaelmas Celebration! The play was followed with a day of games. water balloon toss, relay races, tug of war... Also good stuff:)

Remember this Michaelmas Post from last year? The story of Li Chi is one that I tell my children every Fall.It is a bit of a twist on the traditional Saint George and the dragon. In it, a little girl stands brave and true as she tames the dragon in order to save her village. much to my delight, our new lovely 2nd grade teacher had chosen this story for the class to perform! Milo was the Magistrate in the play. He was amazing! Much like in the story, he was really afraid to do it but he was brave and performed his part beautifully! Taming his own inner dragons ♥

09/29/2010

Michaelmas is the Autumn equinox, when days and nights are of equal length. It marks this turning of the seasons.

In Waldorf tradition, Michaelmas is brought as a celebration of strength of resolve, goodness, courage, and inner light. The image of St. Michael with his golden sword piercing the darkness is meant to give us the courage to face the darkening earth. With autumn, the earth draws into herself, and we also begin to draw into ourselves. Winter is the season of inner contemplation. When we look within ourselves, who knows what dragons we will find?

The struggle of St. George and the dragon is also a powerful image. There is not only courage needed to deal with the outer cold and darkness but also within ourselves courage is called for to shine light on those personal challenges we face as spiritually, socially and morally maturing human beings. When the deeper, inner meaning of festivals is contemplated, a nourishing and sustaining quality enables us to participate and enrich our own lives and the lives of our families and our community as well.

At our school we celebrate with a reenactment of St George taming the dragon.

My son has been all around the house reciting the

Autumn Blessing:

Brave and true will I be,

Each good deed sets me free,

Each kind word makes me strong.

I will fight for the right!

I will conquer the wrong!

Sword of Michael brightly gleaming,

Down to earth its light is streaming,

May we see its shining rays

In the Winter's darkest days.

We have been crafting for Michaelmas all week.

We made these Michaelmas Dragons for our nature table. I found the pattern HERE

Santa Lucia Day is on December 13th and celebrates the light for the longest night of the year (under the old Gregorian calendar this was the Winter Solstice).

Lucia was known as a medieval saint who brought food to a province of Sweden during a period of famine.

Santa Lucia is seen as a symbol of hope and light during the dark of Winter.

At our Waldorf school the children celebrate Santa Lucia day. The girls dress in white with red sashes and the boys are dressed as “star boys” with pointy star hats. The oldest girl in the 2nd grade wears a wreath of candles on her head to represent Santa Lucia. This class passes out Saffron buns to all of the children in the school while singing the Santa Lucia song.

At our house the kids wake up to a breakfast of saffron buns and we light candle before we go off to school. Today was a perfect day to celebrate as it has been snowing all weekend and it all seems just a bit more magical when everything is covered in snow!

Here are some picture of our celebration last year at school!

The Saffron buns from this morning...

Here is the recipe I used, although not traditional due to the lack of saffron:

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon yeast

1 tablespoon turmeric for color

Stir all of these things together in a large bowl.

Add

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs , beaten

1 teaspoon salt

2 to 4 cups of flour to make a soft dough

Knead; keep the dough on the soft side. Add currents or raisins if you like those. Shape into S shaped buns, let rise until doubled and then bake at 400 degrees until golden.

11/15/2009

The story of saint Martin is a a lovely lesson for children (and adults alike).

Martin was a roman soldier who, on one cold november night, saw a beggar man by the side of the road. The man was freezing and begging for help, but everyone was passing him by. However Martin, feeling great compassion for the man, chose to stop and help him. he removed his cloak, cut it in half, and shared one half of it with the beggar...who was no doubt grateful. That night, Martin dreamed the beggar was the christ. and he came to realize that by helping this man...he had been in service to God and, indeed, to all mankind.

In honor of Martin's kind deed we celebrate Martinmas...

We gather together at our school at sunset light a fire and tell the tale of saint Martin. We have a simple meal of soup and bread then we light our lanterns. All of the children carry their lanterns along the path- that is also lit by lanterns. Along the way we sing the Lantern Song and reflect on the inner light of humanity (well the adults reflect:) Its a powerful event that leaves my family ready for the upcoming slower and quieter months ahead.

Here is a great tutorial about how to make a paper lantern from Uncommon Grace!

11/09/2009

Michaelmashas long been a time of new beginnings. By the equinox the shortening of the days and lengthening of the nights is well underway. As the life forces of nature recede, turning toward a winter sleep, we also turn inward to a time of mindful focus and inner awakening. It is a time of reflection, as we contemplate our relationship to the light and darkness in the world around us. This ancient festival was named for the Archangel Michael, conqueror of the powers of darkness, the harvester of the deeds of humanity. It is at this time that the image of Michael with the dragon appears before us as a mighty imagination, challenging us to develop strong, brave, free wills, to overcome anxiety and fear.

At our school Michaelmas is celebrated through a play performed by grades students, depicting the valour of St. George, Michael’s earthly counterpart, as he overcomes the dragon.

Quote

“Children are even as a branch that is fresh and green; they will grow up in whatever way you train them. Take the utmost care to give them high ideals and goals, so that once they come of age, they will cast their beams like brilliant candles on the world…”
Bahaullah